Abstract

Agricultural systems in the general Western Pacific region are highly diversified and complex. Utilising appropriate climate services in this environment is challenging. For example in Australia, which has widely dispersed, geographical and agricultural/climate system, each of the six major States has a Department of Agriculture with varying levels of integrated climate services and associated research institutes. Additionally, the Federal Government, especially through the Bureau of Meteorology, creates extensive service supply outputs for agricultural through both the National Climate Centre (NCC) and through each- of its State offices. Universities conduct research in agricultural meteorology/climatology with some providing both direct climate service output to the agricultural community and also to industry via specific consultancies and research programs.
Federally, the Bureau of Meteorology's National Climate Centre has significant plans to enhance climate services for agriculture, especially including development of:
•Dynamical multi-week forecasts from the POAMA climate model (www.poana.gov.au)
•Development of NWP-based outlooks for evapotranspiration (to add to the climate monitoring of Evapotranspiration based on FAO56).
•Further implementation of the growing degree day monitoring service
•Switch from statistically based climate forecasts to dynamical seasonal forecasts from the POAMA model.
•Enhancement of trend analyses in key Ag indices (eg frost days, sheep chill, brown rot, etc)
•Upgraded high-res PME rainfall outlooks on the WATL web-page
As a regional example, in regards to the State of Queensland, despite considerable integrated climate-agricultural systems research output from various state and university agencies over the past 20 years, it has also been recognised by the Bureau of Meteorology that, in terms of future strategies, there is a need for a multi-agency, coordinated effort to be made in order to effectively reach the agricultural sector with improved climate services. In many other Australian states as well as Queensland, regional and specialist universities and associated state agencies are planning enhanced climate services that will have direct relevance to such issues as harvested yield forecasting especially through inclusion of the 'new generation' of climate models (eg POAMA, ECMWF, UKMO) into harvest yield and agricultural production models and through output of forecasts of extreme events for rainfall, temperature, evaporation, radiation and stream flow.
Future strategies for climate services in agriculture in New Zealand will continue to operate already deemed successful web portal systems but will recognise that provision of information to farmers and other in the agricultural sector provides a unique challenge. It is aimed to overcome key barriers which hinder the use of climate information by farmers and agricultural consultants and businesses. To address these barriers, NIWA's future strategy is to be involved in a MAF Sustainable Farming. Fund projects which will go through an evaluation phase in 2012 and which it is aimed will allow significant refinement of New Zealand's climate services to agriculture (and, potentially, many other sectors in NZ). New Zealand and Fiji both currently have representatives on a WMO working group for Climate Services in which one of the most important tasks is to survey RA-V countries with respect to their climate service gaps and needs, particularly with respect to agriculture. Further details in respect to Western Pacific countries' efforts and future strategies for climate services in agriculture will be outlined in the formal presentation.